Cotton harvesters including on-board cotton module builders have now been in use for some time. Generally, cotton modules have traditionally had a rectangular shape, conforming to specific dimensions to facilitate handling and transporting on dedicated vehicles, and processing by gins. The most accepted and recognized of the known on-board module builders utilize an accompanying unloading door or ramp, which unfolds as the module builder is tilted, for providing a continuous, level surface extending from the floor of the builder to the ground or other surface onto which the module is to be unloaded. The ramp has a length which is selected so as to be at a sufficiently small angle to the ground or other surface such that the cohesion and integrity of the module are maintained, during the transition of the module from the ramp onto the surface. A shortcoming, though, of tilting the module builder for unloading is that the harvesting and module building process are interrupted during the unloading.
An important factor in cotton harvesting is productivity, and, as a result, it would be desirable to many owners and operators, to have capabilities to both remove a completed cotton module from a module building chamber of the module builder, and to unload a completed module onto the ground or another surface, without interrupting the harvesting operation, that is, on-the-go while harvesting. For instance, in regard to the former, often a module will be completed in the middle of a crop row, far from the end of the row or other location where it is desired to unload the module. It would decrease productivity to have to interrupt the harvesting operation in the middle of a row, drive to the end of the row or other location, unload, then return to the middle of the row to continue harvesting. As a result, it is sometimes desirable to have the capability to carry a completed module on the module builder, while a second module is being built, then to unload the modules in succession at the same or different locations. Unloading successively at a single location is a particularly desirable capability when the modules are of the rectangular type, two of which can typically be carried by a module transporter to a gin or other destination.
Reference Deutsch, U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,996, issued Jul. 23, 2002 to Deere & Co., entitled Harvester with Bale Forming Chamber Having a Transport Mode, which discloses apparatus providing a capability for forming a round cotton bale in an on-board chamber in the manner of forming a hay or straw bale, and opening the chamber to roll the bale onto a lower platform. The bale can be carried on the platform, and, when desired, the platform tilted for rolling the bale onto the ground or another surface. This provides a desired sequence of operation, but the apparatus is not adaptable for use with rectangular modules, as the rectangular modules are substantially larger, do not roll, and the integrity of the modules would likely be compromised by a similar platform construction. Additionally, as a result of the manner of opening the on-board bale forming chamber, cotton cannot be conveyed thereto as a bale is moved to lower platform, and thus this cotton must be accumulated elsewhere until the bale forming chamber is closed again.
Accordingly, what is sought is a cotton harvesting machine and method of operation, utilizing a combination of a module builder and module transporter, which overcomes one or more of the shortcomings set forth above, and which is operable for moving a module, particularly a rectangular module, from the module builder to the transporter, while cotton is continued to be conveyed and distributed in the module building chamber; carrying the module on the transporter; and unloading the module from the transporter onto the ground or another surface, all on-the-go while harvesting.